The reluctance is because I don't like relying on regex matches against running other programs. It's often hard to predict errors, or inconsistencies. Besides that, it just seems "kludgy" and I thought there might be a better way to do it.
The script is actually for updating DHS.org with your dynamic IP address. You can download my first shot at it
. It works fine in cron or MS scheduler. I'll post the relevent portions on the snippets site.